50kW级大功率霍尔推力器性能测试与分析

Performance Testing and Analysis of 50kW-Class High Power Hall Thruster

关键词:  电推进  霍尔推力器  放电特性  基本性能  理论模型

Key words:  Electric propulsion  Hall thruster  Discharge characteristics  Essential performance  Theoretical model

摘要:

50kW级大功率霍尔推力器是霍尔电推进在大功率领域最具代表性的样机之一，在未来载人探月/探火、空间核电推进等领域具有重要应用。本文介绍50kW级大功率霍尔推力器样机的性能测试情况，主要包括放电特性、推力和阳极比冲等基本性能随放电功率、放电电压、不同比例氙氪工质等变化情况，并运用理论模型与测试结果开展对比分析。50kW级大功率霍尔推力器放电电流振荡频率为2.5~5.5kHz，振荡幅度是放电电流平均值的14%~94%；推力器测试放电功率到70kW，最大推力可到3.07N，考虑背景气压的影响，修正后的纯氙气工质阳极比冲降低15%~17%；推力器在纯氙气、纯氪气以及不同比例氙氪混合气体工质条件下均可稳定工作，在相同放电电压条件下纯氪气工质的阳极比冲比纯氙气工质的阳极比冲高8%~15%，但纯氪气工质的阳极效率则比纯氙气的阳极效率低8%~16%；此外，实验测量的不同比例氙氪工质的推力随放电功率变化规律与效率模型计算结果基本保持一致，二者的差异为0.04%~11.6%。

Abstract:

The 50kW-class Hall thruster is one of the most representative thrusters in the field of high power Hall thrusters， widely used in the human Lunar/Mars exploration missions and space nuclear electric propulsion in the future. Performance testing of the 50kW-class Hall thruster was experimentally and theoretically investigated in this paper. Discharge characteristics and essential performance， such as thrust and anode specific impulse， were obtained with the discharge power， the discharge voltage and different mass flow rates of xenon and krypton propellants， and compared with calculations of the theoretical models. The oscillation frequencies of discharge current are generally about 2.5~5.5kHz， and the oscillation amplitudes are about 14%~94% of the average discharge current. The essential performance of 50kW-class thruster was measured at powers up to 70kW， and thrusts up to 3.07N were obtained. The correction anode specific impulse at pure xenon propellant， taking into account background pressure， decreases by 15%~17%. Moreover， the thruster operating on pure xenon， pure krypton and different mass flow rates of xenon and krypton propellants was investigated. For a given discharge voltage， the pure krypton anode specific impulse is nearly 8%~15% greater than that of pure xenon， while the anode efficiency of the former is nearly 8%~16% smaller than the latter. And the tendency of the thrust versus discharge power at different mass flow rates of xenon and krypton propellants is in generally good agreements with that of the efficiency model， and the difference is 0.04%~11.6%.